Development Policy Recommendations for the Federal Government

Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes Germany draw up development policy recommendations for the German government.

Team Policy & External Relations

This article is part of Kompass 2026, published by Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes. The report was originally published in German.

1. Making the reform process more systemic and partnership-oriented

The reform process in German development policy ought to result in long-term, system-transforming approaches being anchored in strategies developed and implemented together with partner countries and local actors. These strategies should conceive goals such as sustainable and resilient food systems, the conservation of natural resources, economic development, working governance structures and ownership, health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), social security and the safeguarding of civil society space as interlinked aspects.
The BMZ’s (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) reform plan ought to be complemented by a binding impact model which links the four superordinate goals, makes their interaction transparent and is backed by measurable indicators, concrete financing targets and binding financial commitments. Implementation requires cross-departmental steering and decision-making structures as well as taking local actors and consortia more into account.
German development cooperation must strengthen national and regional development strategies, especially where these contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, the Federal Government has to focus on promoting the development of an ambitious Post-2030 Agenda. The alignment of development cooperation with Germany’s political and economic interests must not counteract these efforts.

The BMZ ought to complement the early involvement of business actors provided for in its Economic Action Plan with binding participation formats for civil society and child and youth policy actors. Their perspectives should systematically flow into government negotiations, country-level policy dialogues and reform processes. A visible civil society and child and youth mandate has to be established for the planned North-South Commission.
Given political upheavals and autocratic tendencies, strategies promoting democratic and civil society forces should also be strengthened through protected digital spaces and protection from disinformation. Education, empowerment and the participation of children and youth should be essential elements of strategies to safeguard human rights and to strengthen scope for democratic and civil society action through development cooperation.
The focus on children and youth announced by the BMZ has to be implemented at cross-departmental level and in partnership with the countries of the so-called Global South.

Welthungerhilfe and Terre des Hommes Germany have published their annual report "On the reality of German development policy".

The Federal Government ought to make use of diplomatic channels to safeguard the humanitarian principles and avoid humanitarian aid being exploited for political purposes. Furthermore, it must take a more consistent stand in favour of compliance with international humanitarian law. This also includes systematically addressing violations of international law in UN forums and claiming humanitarian access in crisis areas.
Germany ought to use its influence to actively shape the reform agenda for a future-proof humanitarian system. Humanitarian aid has to be needs-oriented, neutral and independent, and must not be subordinated to security, migration or geopolitical interests.
Restructuring of the Foreign Office must not result in humanitarian aid losing priority. The new unit “Global Order” has to raise the structural status of humanitarian aid. At the same time, forgotten crises should again be given more focus.
The Federal Government has to base financing humanitarian aid on needs and provide at least 2.8 billion euros a year. In this context, the Foreign Office ought to earmark ten per cent of its budget for anticipatory humanitarian aid.
The Federal Government has to strengthen the HDP Nexus and work towards a better intermeshing of humanitarian, development and peace policy approaches. This requires finance being provided over a period of several years, cross-departmental development of targets and strengthening of local actors.

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Germany ought to stick to its commitment to provide 0.2 per cent of its gross national income (GNI) for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). In addition, Germany has to play a constructive role in establishing financial commitments in follow-up agreements of Agenda 2030.
Civil society organisations ought to be given more scope to achieve a stronger impact and more cost-efficiency in development cooperation. This requires funding instruments open to all types of organisation, which allow projects to be selected not on the basis of the type of organisation, but on the basis of their contribution to achieving the objectives and their cost-effectiveness.
The Federal Government ought to establish food security and the right to adequate food as a binding and strategic goal in German development policy and provide corresponding finance. Bilateral financing for food security should also be maintained outside Africa, particularly in fragile countries and countries affected by crises.
Particularly when budgetary resources are tight, funding for transformative measures must be safeguarded. The ‘Special Initiative for the Transformation of Agricultural and Food Systems’ (SI AGER) should, in its perpetuated form, continue to be implemented not only by bilateral and multilateral organisations but also by civil society organisations, and should be allocated funding at least at the current level.